ISU Conference to Address Iowa Research and Outreach for the Problem of Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico

MEDIA ADVISORY AMES, Iowa - A conference on the issue of Gulf hypoxia and the latest research on water quality conservation and monitoring in Iowa is set for October 16 at the Gateway Hotel and Conference Center at Iowa State University in Ames. "Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico: Implications and Strategies for Iowa" is sponsored by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and features researchers from several departments and centers at Iowa State University and the University of Iowa, as well as local and regional environmental advisors, and experts from both the public and private sectors. The organizers hope to present the latest research findings on the problem of hypoxia in the Gulf while providing a venue for a broad array of scientists, policymakers and other stakeholders to form new teams and communication channels to work most effectively on the issue in Iowa. Keynote speakers and panelists include Darrell Brown, chief of U.S. EPA's Coastal Management Branch; Jerry Schnoor, co-director of the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research at the University of Iowa; Joan Iverson Nassauer, professor of landscape architecture at the University of Michigan; Dean Lemke, chief of the Water Resources Bureau of the Iowa Department of Agriculture; Richard Leopold, director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources; and Craig Cox, Midwest vice president of the Environmental Working Group. Media representatives who would like to attend the conference should contact Sandy Clarke at the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development: (515) 294-6257, or e-mail sclarke@iastate.edu. -30-